Screenwriter Rod Serling's adaptation of Fletcher Knebel's and Charles W. Bailey's 1961 suspenseful novel becomes a contemporary (1964) reformulation of the 'duty vs. loyalty' conundrum that Caius Brutus faced in William Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar'.

A politically principled but ineffectual President of the U.S. brings about distrust and unrest among the nation; consequently, an adjutant to the Joint Chiefs faces the decision to abide by the suspected illegal resolve of an immediate superior whom he admires or to uphold the institutional order and betray the confidence bestowed upon him.

Director John Frankenheimer ('Seconds'; 'The Train'; 'The Manchurian Candidate', 1962), in fine mettle before his inexplicable decline, with Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas and an exceptional cast, including Fredric March as the President and favorite George Macready - for once as one of the good guys - as Secretary of the Interior. A nice combo to experience alongside Lancaster's and Douglas' pairing in 'Gunfight at the O.K. Corral'.

Jonathan Darby's 'The Enemy Within', the 1994 remake from the same script, is not nearly as compelling.

- Reviewed originally 08/15/2005 under '7 Days in May'

A Classic film made in 1963- about the Fascist take over of the USA by militarists. Directed by John Frankenheimer, with a fabulous cast of Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Ava Gardner, Fredric March and others. How well this films mirrors present day American society.